Why Is Maquiladoras Important

Due to the demand of labor occurring in America, industries were at a deficit in workers. This led for young women to be hired to fill the gaps of labor of the deficit. This change went against society’s perception of a woman’s role. Before industries allowed women

Pollution continues to pose an enormous threat to residents of urban cities worldwide. In the August 2008 Monthly Update, it is stated that approximately 800,000 deaths each year can be attributed to outdoor air pollution, making pollution the single most harmful environmental hazard to human health in urban areas (Kallman). The fact that pollution kills hundreds of thousands of people each year alone portrays just how dangerous living in these conditions can be. Kallman writes about a study which proves an increase in upper respiratory diseases, cardiovascular mortality, respiratory mortality, and low birth weights when exposed to air pollutants (August 2008: Monthly Update). These can be very serious diseases and complications which, when contracted, can lead to death or very serious illnesses. There

In the country of Mexico there has been a phenomenon called violencia femicida (Olivera, 2006). Violencia femicida are homicides that occur against women at an increasing rate (Olivera, 2006). According to Olivera neoliberal policies are to blame for these murders (2006). Neoliberal policies in the country of Mexico have resulted in extreme poverty and unemployment due to the “fostered corruption and inefficiency in governments that maintain oligarchic, authoritarian, and patriarchal social structures disguised as democracies” (Olivera, 2006). As a result, Mexican women have searched for jobs in places called maquiladoras. Maquiladoras are factories known for their cheap labor and their exploitative conditions (Olivera, 2006). At maquiladoras many human rights are violated, especially the right under article twenty-three of the universal declaration of human rights. Article

Kelley commences her speech by providing a shocking statistic that “two million children under the age of sixteen years” strenuously work to support themselves and their families in order to create a forceful sense of emotion within her audience. By doing this she illuminates the rate of child labor to stress the severity of the problem. The author repeats “increase” to emphasize and describe that the American workforce is increasingly composed of girls/women in order to highlight their role and the growth of their participation in the workforce. Juxtaposing how girls spend their time with how

The link between Mexico and poverty is a large reason why children are forced to work in factories. Poverty began to be an issue for Mexico starting many years ago. In the 1940s, when industrialization began taking place, Mexico’s economy was growing at a rate of 6 per cent per year (Latapi and Gonzalez). This increase in the economy created two new social classes: the urban middle class and the new working class. By the late 70s, at least half of the working middle class held jobs related in manufacturing (Latapi and Gonzalez). This employment gave wages high enough to allow one worker the

As previously mentioned, the maquiladoras emerged in the northern border regions of Mexico, and subsequently began to move inwards towards the interior spreading to almost every state in the country. Among the scholars who trace the origins of the maquiladoras, the vast majority locate the city of Tijuana as the first to establish a maquila plant at the time the Mexican government launched the Border Industrialization Program. During the program’s early years, only a select few U.S. companies sought to take advantage of the zones’ cheaper rate of production by relocating at least a portion of their production process to Tijuana’s maquila (Cooney, 2001, p.68; Billes, 2003, pp. 520-521;

Seventy-five percent of the workforce was made up of women,9 and most of these women were Mexican. These Mexican women faced extremely harsh treatment while working. The three biggest problems these women had that they wanted to get rid of by unionizing were the “pet” system, when male employees and supervisors would favor women they liked or went out with,10 the piece-rate system, when workers get paid by their work accomplished, not by the hour, and the supervisors, who would constantly watch the women and make sure they were working hard.11 Women particularly hated these three systems, especially since they are discriminatory. Also, the piece-rate system would make it hard to get consistent pay. All of the strenuous work would of course make the workers sore, and soon their workload would slowly start to decrease. Furthermore, it is hard to design the piece-rate system in such a way that women would get about the same amount of money men who are paid by the hour. In addition to discrimination, the jobs were often dangerous, as Julia Luna Mount stated, “After work, my hands were red, swollen, and I was on fire!”12 These working conditions inevitably made the labor force create the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America (UCAPAWA). Most of the members in this

Throughout history, women have faced with a plethora of challenges that called for them to transcend society’s limitations. One of these situations was the challenges presented by the terrible living and factory conditions in New York City at the turn of the 20th century. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire took the lives of 146 immigrant women and devastated New York; and due to the theft-preventative measures of locking the doors to the factory, owner, Isaac Harris and Max Blanck led to even more lives being lost. This situation, although terrible, was not that uncommon. As these immigrant women arrived in the United States, there would be a typical and similar experience among many; one that started with the problems offered upon arrival,

To begin with, Sacrificing Families by Leisy J. Abrego, draws on the narratives of many Salvadorian families to tell the stories on how illegality and gender shape their lives. In Chapter five, Abrego accurately captures the gender roles of immigrant parents in transnational families. Abrego makes it clear that there are inequalities between genders, men have always been privileged individuals, and regardless of the work, they make more money when compared to women. Through her interviews Abrego provides evidence for the structural reality of gender-stratified opportunities and the gender roles that benefit men and constrain women. According to Abrego, “For women, the three most common occupational sectors were domestic, garment and hotel house-keeping work (102). With this we can see that how the occupations of women are tied to their gender roles. Women are supposed to stay at home, clean the house, and nurture.

Women’s history in the United States has always been represented as a struggle for rights. Wealth and status were tied to either their fathers or husbands. In the early 1900s, women were afforded the traditional roles of society. The majority of women worked in the home. If they were of the 18% young or poor women, they also worked in factories as laborers, manufacturing items for the booming industrial revolution (U.S. Department of Labor, 1980). During this time period the workplace was not in compliance with current safety standards. There was no minimum wage yet, work conditions were horrible and they worked long hours, “In 1900, the average workweek in manufacturing was 53 hours,” (Fisk, 2003). Women took “pink

Around the early 1900’s, concern for child and women labor grew throughout the American public. In the factories, women faced discrimination as employers would usually pay woman about one-half the salary as a man for the same job received. During this period, working conditions were terrible as these factories were not air-conditioned or heated and women worked for

Not only are the men working hard in companies, teens and women are hard workers too, because there are thousands of Latin immigrants between fourteen and seventeen years old who come to search for a job. Many of these teens come here in the United States to work and when they come here lots of them don’t attend school, they go to work even though the job is too hard for them they work longer than eight hours and sometimes they work on dangerous place such as construction. Many Latin immigrant teens don’t have a family in the United States so they first look for a job, where they don’t ask for legal papers, to get money and then look for a place where to live. Many of them live in the streets and others have been caught by the immigration department and they go to jail. Other gets adopted by people who search for

Although immigrant women play a big role in America’s society and economy, they have been constantly mistreated and looked down upon throughout history. Not only do they face the burden of the stratifications that their gender entails but they also struggle to adopt the American culture and norms. America was viewed as the land of opportunities and economic prosperity, a perspective that draws in many immigrant women who were willing to leave their families and possessions to come to this foreign country in hopes of a better life. In America, they faced many challenges as they not only had to work long hours but also took care of their families and do housework as well. They struggled to make a standard living out of low wage jobs and assimilating into America’s society. Today, the treatment of immigrant women has improved greatly as they have stood together and fought for their rights. Immigrant women have built communities and held strikes for better pay and treatment. Although America has made great strides in improving treatment of immigrant women, there is still social injustice. Immigrant women have come a long way from the first time they entered America until now, but their stories are often left untold and omitted from American history.

One of the first things I noticed was how many children the Siegal family had. They have seven of their own kids and one that Jackie took in from her sister. With so many children they needed over 3 nannies. All the nannies were from Spanish countries and they all worked in order to send money back to their families at home. Barbera Ehrenreich describes the process of coming to America and working as a house maid or nanny. Since the Siegal's have a huge house, they needed women to clean and take care of the house itself. This can also relate to the womanization articles as it is clear that these women from outside countries are doing things that is expected of women such as cooking, cleaning and taking care of children. It is clear that the kids have respect for the nannies since they spend more time with the nanny than with their parents. This can also relate to Wallerstein's "Soft Multilateralism" article in

Regarding females in the workplace, the common opinion across the American continent used to be that by working outside the home, women were abandoning their primary job in life—that of a mother and wife, taking care of the house and the family. In modern times, Latinas take on multiple roles; not only are they still expected to look put together and run the family and the household—for most Latinas in the US, without any outside help—, but many are also breadwinners, some by choice and others by default. The decision made by many Latinas to work has already changed society due to growing feelings of self-empowerment. This newly discovered power is reflected in the increased use of contraceptives by Latin American women. Despite the Roman Catholic teachings, Latinas have taken matters into their own hands by using birth control to decrease the size of their families and lessen their burden, thus allowing them to fulfill their multidimensional desires and duties.